Freetown's special town meeting set for Monday

Sunday

Nov 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM

FREETOWN — Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy forced the postponement of Freetown's Special Town Meeting, residents will have an opportunity to have their voices heard on a number of spending-related issues Monday night at the Freetown Elementary School auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.

DEREK VITAL

FREETOWN — Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy forced the postponement of Freetown's Special Town Meeting, residents will have an opportunity to have their voices heard on a number of spending-related issues Monday night at the Freetown Elementary School auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.

Items on the 26-article warrant include seeking voter approval to auction off 17 properties that have become town owned due to negligent taxes, lowering fees from $30 to $15 for deliquent payments to the town and $11,000 for a part-time Town Hall employee who would staff offices that would be vacant during the day.

Voters will also decide on additional funding for cable access airing of Town Meetings, development of the town website, a state bond to purchase a street sweeper and upgrades to Chipaway Road. Funding for the street sweeper is included in the general budget for the current fiscal year but, when the town opted for a state bond, it required Town Meeting approval.

"It's mostly housekeeping items and account reconciliation," said Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Jean Fox. "There's not much on the agenda that is a huge concern. We're not raising anyone's taxes."

A quorum of 10 town residents is needed to vote on the various items.

Other items on the agenda include the approval of an increase in Veteran's Agent Dan LeBlanc's budget. He had been requesting $43,000, but the Board of Selectmen increased that total to $50,000. In the year since LeBlanc took over the post, he has increased the number of clients served from 6 to 17.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Oct. 29 but town officials opted to postpone due to the extreme weather conditions. State law currently requires towns to open a meeting, regardless of weather conditions, in order to avoid starting the process over and be forced to vote on a new meeting date.

As a result, Fox, Moderator Bruce Wilbur, Town Clerk Jackie Brown and residents Michael McCue and Robert Souza headed over to the school during the peak of the storm to open the meeting and immediately postpone it to Nov. 19.

Freetown and other municipalities have since petitioned to the Legislature to allow communities to submit a postponement notice via a message on the town website or on the cable access channel in the event of a state of emergency.

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